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Breast-Feeding May Protect Against Celiac Disease

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Continuing to breast-feed infants while
introducing them to certain foods may cut their risk of developing celiac
disease, new study findings suggest.

Celiac disease is a digestive disorder that damages the small intestine and
interferes with the normal absorption of nutrients from food. It arises from an
allergic reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley. The
problem often goes undetected because many of its symptoms--such as abdominal
pain, fatigue and diarrhea--are similar to those seen in a range of other
disorders.

Also, some patients with celiac disease have no symptoms. In recent studies,
blood tests have identified mild forms of the disease in people who were unaware
of any problem.

While the cause of celiac disease remains unclear, lead author Anneli
Ivarsson of Umea University in Sweden and colleagues point out that the dietary
patterns of infants might influence the body's immune response, resulting in
tolerance or intolerance of a particular food.

To investigate, the team of researchers evaluated breast-feeding patterns and
the way food was introduced to 627 children with celiac disease and 1,254
healthy kids.

"A major finding of this study was the lower risk of celiac disease in
infants who were still being breast-fed than in infants who had discontinued
breast-feeding at the time when gluten-containing foods were introduced into the
diet," Ivarsson and colleagues write in the May issue of the
American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

According to the report, the risk of celiac disease was reduced by about 40%
in children aged 2 or younger if they were still being breast-fed when dietary
gluten was introduced.

"This effect was even more pronounced in infants who continued to be
breast-fed after dietary gluten was introduced," the authors report.

Moreover, the risk for celiac disease appeared to be greater when
gluten-based foods were introduced into an infant's diet in large amounts, they
add.

"It is tempting to speculate that this dietary pattern also reduces the
lifetime risk of celiac disease; however, further studies are needed to confirm
this notion," Ivarsson's team concludes.